BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair

                                          AB 1330 (Furutani)
          
          Hearing Date: 08/25/2011        Amended: 08/15/2011
          Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-HernandezPolicy Vote: Education 6-1
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          BILL SUMMARY: AB 1330 adds career technical education (CTE), as 
          defined, as an option for pupils to fulfill the existing high 
          school graduation requirement to complete a course in visual or 
          performing arts (VPA) or foreign language, and requires school 
          districts that elect this option to notify parents, teachers, 
          pupils and the public, as specified, commencing with the 2012-13 
          school year. This bill requires the Department of Education 
          (CDE) to report specified information related to these 
          provisions to the Legislature by January 1, 2016.  
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                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions         2011-12      2012-13       2013-14     Fund
           
          CTE courses                               Potentially 
          significant cost pressure             General*                

          CDE reporting                                                    
            $22                  $22               General

          *Counts toward meeting the Proposition 98 minimum funding 
          guarantee
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          STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE. AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED.

          Existing law requires students to, among other requirements, 
          complete the following courses in order to graduate from a 
          California high school: 3 courses in English; 2 courses in 
          mathematics; 2 courses in science, including biological and 
          physical science; 3 courses in social studies, including: United 
          States history, one semester of American government, and one 
          semester of economics; 1 course in VPA or foreign language; 2 
          courses in physical education, unless exempt by law.  









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          Additionally, existing law requires school districts providing 
          instruction in grades 7-12 to offer courses that fulfill 
          requirements and prerequisites for entry into California's 
          public universities. The minimum course requirements for 
          admission to the University of California (UC) and to the 
          California State University (CSU), commonly known as the 
          "a-g requirements" are:

               a)        2 years of history/social science.
               b)        4 years of college preparatory English or 
                    language instruction.
               c)        3 years of college preparatory mathematics (4 
                    years recommended).
               d)        2 years of laboratory science (3 years 
                    recommended).
               e)        2 years of a foreign language (3 years 
                    recommended).
               f)        1 year of visual and performing arts.
               g)        1 year of college preparatory electives.

          This bill would allow school districts to add CTE as an option 
          to fulfill the existing graduation requirement to take a course 
          in VPA or foreign language, through a specified process. This 
          option would become inoperative on July 1, 2017. Authorizing CTE 
          courses to replace other courses in VPA and foreign language as 
          graduation requirements could lead to local pressure to add new 
          course offerings in that subject.  CTE courses tend to be more 
          expensive than other courses, due to factors such as equipment 
          needs, so districts may incur costs as a result of this bill. 
          The provisions of this bill are, however, elective and any new 
          costs would be discretionary on the part of the local school 
          districts.

          This bill requires the CDE to report to the Legislature, by 
          January 1, 2016, the following information: 1) the number of 
          pupils who took a CTE course in order to fulfill graduation 
          requirements; 2) reasons given by pupils for choosing to enroll 
          in a CTE course to satisfy a graduation requirement; 3) the type 
          and number of CTE courses that were available for pupil 
          enrollment; 4) the number of CTE courses that satisfied the 
          subject matter requirements for admission to the UC or CSU; 5) 
          the extent to which the CTE courses addressed local workforce 
          needs; 6) the impact on VPA and foreign language courses that 
          resulted from pupils choosing to enroll in CTE courses to 








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          satisfy the graduation requirement specified; and 7) the annual 
          pupil dropout and graduation rates for the 2011-12 to 2014-15 
          school years, inclusive.

          The CDE has indicated that the new data collection, 
          certification, and reporting duties cannot be absorbed by 
          existing staff. The department estimates that it would require a 
          full-time consultant, a part-time education administrator, a 
          part-time office technician, at at an annual cost of 
          approximately $157,000 (General Fund).

          AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED: Proposed author's amendments would 
          narrow the CDE reporting requirements.

          PROPOSED AMENDMENTS would specify that the bill would sunset in 
          fewer than 5 years if the University of California doubles the 
          number of A-G approved CTE courses in the foreign language 
          category.